Oklahoma high school basketball: Takeaways from McGuinness Classic quarterfinals

The 64th annual Bishop McGuinness Classic began Thursday. Here's a recap of the first-round action.

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Choctaw 52, Del City 43

After picking a driver's pockets, Camden Hyman heaved the ball over the center circle at halfcourt.

However, his objective wasn't to score his own bucket. He needed to connect with teammate Ja'Mon Valentine, who caught the pass in the transition over his shoulder to finish at the rim.

Valentine's soft, rim-grazing finish at the other end served as the dagger in Choctaw's 52-43 win over Del City in Game 1 of the McGuinness Classic. The Yellowjackets jumped out the gate on a 13-3 run minutes into the first quarter after quick buckets from Valentine before Del City closed the quarter on a 9-2 run.

After an on-pouring of buckets from Hyman closed out the first half, Choctaw entered the locker room with a five-point lead. Yet, Yellowjackets head coach Jermaine Simpson was not pleased with his team's defensive effort in the first half.

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"Our biggest thing that we focus on in practice is our defense," Simpson said. "We take pride in our effort on that end of the floor, so when we don't show up in that fashion, I have to rile the guys up to get them going. Luckily for us, I guess it worked."

The Yellowjackets came out of the halftime break with a further pep in their step, forcing many turnovers to get out in transition for easy points at the rim. In the second half, they outscored the Eagles 27-19 to improve their record to 6-1 through the first month of action.

Hyman led all scorers with 15 points and served as Choctaw's lead ball handler and primary playmaker, finishing with seven assists.

"We always lean on Cam a lot because of his high IQ," Simpson said. "This was his first game returning from an ankle injury, but once he hit the first three shots, he settled in and became more comfortable.

"We know the field of teams we'll have to go through is tough, so we'll go back, watch the film early tomorrow and then come back ready to implement some of our changes to see where it takes us."

Choctaw will face off against the winner of Edmond Santa Fe and Bishop McGuinness at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

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Edmond Memorial 42, Norman 38

Hudson Franz scored a game-high 16 points to push Edmond Memorial past Norman 42-38 in Game 2 of the McGuinness Classic on Thursday afternoon.

The sophomore scored 11 of his points in the first half, where the Bulldogs led by three points heading into the break. However, the Tigers' defense stepped up in the second half, limiting Edmond Memorial to 15 second-half points.

Yet, five fourth-quarter points from Franz and critical interior defense from Bulldogs forward Danny Lynn and Drelen Nero restricted Norman from getting opportunities at the rim. Tigers star forward Trashaun Combs-Pierce led Norman in scoring with nine points.

Edmond Memorial advances to face either Deer Creek at 6 p.m. on Friday in the tournament semifinals.

Edmond Santa Fe 57, Bishop McGuinness 51

Edmond Santa Fe guard Nik Rhodes led all scorers with 21 points to lead the Wolves to a 57-51 victory in Game 3 of the McGuinness Classic on Thursday evening.

Rhodes scored 15 of his points in the second half, where the Wolves outscored the Irish 33-25 in a resilient effort. Matters remained close throughout the first half as Irish guard Cooper Bradley began to heat up, scoring 12 of his 20 points.

However, Edmond Santa Fe sparked a surge of fresh energy out of the halftime break. Rhodes and guard Jacob Gooden began clicking on all cylinders defensively, making life rough for Bishop McGuinness' backcourt. Gooden scored all eight points in the second half to help the Wolves win their fourth consecutive game and improve to 8-1 on the season.

With the win, Edmond Santa Fe advances to the tournament's semifinal round and will match up against Choctaw at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

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Deer Creek 66, Casady 56

Jeremiah Deering cut behind the defense and rose above the rim, finishing with a two-handed dunk.

Then, after the Antlers forced a turnover on the other end, Deer Creek ran the same play — finding a cutting Deering on the low block for yet another two-handed flush. However, as the 6-foot-4 senior ran back on defense, he patted on top of his head to acknowledge his highlight on back-to-back possessions.

He received a technical foul for his gesture, but the act proved justifiable as Deer Creek defeated Casady 66-56 in Game 4 of the McGuinness Classic on Thursday evening. Deering was one of four Antlers players to score in double digits to help Deer Creek win the sixth of its last seven games, improving to 7-2.

The Antlers took an early first quarter lead and never looked back as guard Clyde Davis Jr. marked his fingerprints everywhere he could. The junior finished with 13 points and a plethora of steals as his presence on the defensive end helped Deer Creek head into halftime with a 16-point lead over the Cyclones.

Junior forward Mason Smith began to heat up in the second half, scoring 12 of his game-high 14 points to extend the Antlers' lead to 20.

In the win, Deer Creek advances to the semifinal round of the McGuinness Classic as they'll take on Edmond Memorial at 6 p.m. Friday.

Jordan Davis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Jordan? He can be reached at jdavis@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @jdavis34_. Sign up for The Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Jordan’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma high school basketball results from Bishop McGuinness Classic